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Adelphi Connection to the Granbury, TX tornado

News, In The News, Announcement

A series of tornadoes in Texas has initially reported at least six people dead, and 37 injured on Thursday, May 16, 2013. The city of Granbury, 35 miles southwest of Fort Worth, appears to have been struck the worst.

The tornado created a mass trauma event, unlike any other ever seen in the area. Dr. Kyle McCombs an emergency room physical and chief of staff at Lake Granbury Medical Center is reported in the New York Times as saying, “For a hospital of our size, we’ve never seen a mass trauma event like this… we had serious, major trauma, and a lot of it.”

At the Adelphi University program, Dr. Smith spoke of how on May 22, 2011, a tornado caused unprecedented destruction in Joplin, including this country’s first direct hit on an acute care hospital. Smith assisted with the initial Incident Command Functions for St. John’s Regional Medical Center.

In the fall 2012 semester, the Center for Health Innovation (CHI) had released a poll on emergency preparedness. The findings released showed that most Americans were not prepared for a catastrophic event. Over 1,000 adults over the age of 18 were surveyed in the university sponsored poll with highlights that included: 44 percent don’t have first-aid kits; 48 percent lack emergency supplies; and 53 percent do not have a minimum three-day supply of nonperishable food and water at home. Ironically, soon after the poll was released, the region where CHI and Adelphi University is was critically affected by superstorm Sandy.